The Book of Life: Reflecting on the Chapters That Shape Us
Life moves quickly it seems.
One moment you’re a child, then a parent, then suddenly you’re asking where the years went.
Three of my childhood friends died before I turned 24, and those memories remind me that our chapters are never guaranteed.
This poem is my attempt to trace the arc of a life—broken, restored, redeemed—and to point us back to the One who makes every chapter meaningful.
Book of Life
My book of life is closing fast
With pages muddied by my past
Things I did in younger days
When I sought glory and the praise
/
And church was there each holy day
With sermons long and prayers to say
Then college where I spread my wings
A chapter lost in mindless things
/
And after years of self regard
I married up, bought house and yard
Settled down and added kids
Then golf and toys soon hit the skids
/
Then years to love my children well
I pray I did, guess time will tell
Then business "chapters" come and go
The marriage bloom soon lost its glow
/
Yet at the end, I see the light
My heart now gone from dark to bright
I'm finding joy in only Him
And death to self, no...that's not grim
/
It's where I find the man God made
Now resting quietly in the shade
While life around may fall apart
I'm safe and sound with Savior's heart.
/
Now joy not linked to circumstance
Late chapters filled with sacred dance
Where God and I are one at last
A joyful journey, ever-vast.
/
WGS
11/14/25